Off Leash Dog Rant !!!

So it's getting to be spring and there is a new 'dog park' at the S end of the Foothills Trail in Ft Collins.

I'd ridden it many times since it was built and always had problems w/dog owners letting their dogs out of their car w/o a leash to run up to the park. I can't count the times I've slammed on the brakes to avoid a "dog crash" on the short (20') stretch of trail between the parking lot and the dog park because owners don't leash their dogs between the parking lot and the "dog park"

This afternoon took the cake !! Up in the "Open Space" at the S end of the Foothills Trail, I saw 8-12 unleashed dogs w/ no owners in sight running up and down the trail.

It took all I could to do, to not confront the 6 "women" walking "a breast" across the trail and forcing me to yield while their dogs ran free up the trail when I finally encountered them.

...it's the umteenth people abreast on trail that don't hear the bell rings and calls on usually busy trails that really bothers me--and when they do, they seem so surprised, like they are being attacked. I guess I'm aware when I walk on trails of possible riders or runners and i somehow expect it from others. I mean jeeze this is the front range, should be no surprise that other people use the already wide trails. I deal with this every single day on my ride to work.

But dogs...unless they chase me...oh well, they are just dogs...they get a benefit that they live a short but energetic life not understanding our riding but they enjoy their freedom that they much deserve from their moronic owners. I think they should get some respect actually...

whats your point?

Originally Posted by onbelaydave

I'd ridden it many times since it was built and always had problems w/dog owners letting their dogs out of their car w/o a leash to run up to the park.

again???

why do you keep riding it then if it causes you SO many problems?? its like saying, "everytime i stick my hand in a blender, i chop my fingers off!"
who gives a fuk? you pass em in an instance, and never see em again. why bring this topic up again and again? its not like your post is going to stop all of the irresponsible people who let their dogs run amuck! just deal with it, and go about yur biz!! if you dont like the areas that seem to have this problem, then go to the 1000 other spots where you wont encounter this...
on a side note, not everyone around knows (or cares) about the rules we follow as responsible trail connoisseurs. yes, i realize that "ignorance of the law" is no excuse. but for the instance that your day was f'd up, i doubt it was really worth posting here!!

Expect to see more in Jefferson County, since Lakewood closed their 160 acre Forsberg Park that was designated off leash, for the new construction south of Green Mountain. Which they so kindly didn't give any alternative to. OH but they will eventually replace it with a overly abundant 4 acre fenced park when the construction is complete. I'm sure that will satisfy all dog lovers everywhere. PS in case you didn't know more money is spent on pets in the US than children so they aren't going away anytime soon.

It's pretty far north of Forsberg, but there is a fair sized dog park by Arvada Reservoir. I don't know that Forsberg Park was actually very well utilized anyway - I never saw very many cars there. Use it or lose it!

And to the OP - if that particular 20' stretch is so treacherous, you could walk it...

I just got back from a ride and interestinglyI had two dog incidents. One, was off-leash and the bulldog started chasing my front wheel--the owner yelling at the dog the entire time. It was no big deal.

But the other, ironically, was a leashed dog where the owner had the dog on a retractable leash. The dog and owner and woman they were with were on the right side of the trail. I rang my bell as I approached to alert them ,and crazy enough, the man holding the dog moved to the left side of the trail, allowing the leash to unwind, completely blocking the trail. I had to stop.

I just about gave a few words to the moron, but bit my tongue then negotiated the tangle and left.

I hope my silence made him realize what an idiot he was. But he probably thought I was an idiot for being so indignant about it.

It must be because I like dogs and they can sense it - I've yet to have any dog incidents while biking that I thought were worthy of telling anyone about. Unless I see a really cool one, and then for sure I tell my wife.

I can't blame the OP for getting PO'ed. I would be, too. Granted, we need to be aware and to yield to pedestrians, but having leashes on your pets is a law for a good reason. I keep my dogs on their leashes, unless it's a non-leash area. Would you want your dog injured or killed from a bike accident? Would you want to be injured from an accident (or avoidance of an accident) with an unleashed dog? I love my dogs and am a responsible owner who would be devastated if one of my boys got hurt/killed. C'mon people, the leash laws are there to save everyone. My $0.02.

I see you're drinking one percent. Is that because you think you're fat?

I almost didn't post this but what the hey, I was bit a few years back at the top of GM by and Standard poodle who was off leash, as i passed the hiker and dog, the dog cirlcled around and bit me in the thigh, not bad but enough to tear a hole in a new pair of shorts and draw a little blood. The man apologized up and down and was very sincere, I yelled a bit, I then saw the man and dog again about a year later and warned my friends to stay clear and the man heard me, gave a strange look and i proceeded to pull up my shorts and show him the small scar still visible a year later. He could not believe it! So it can happen... On a side note i took my dog for a hike up at Deer Creek today for some trail condition recon, might be a few more weeks. Plym. mtn. was pretty dry though did see some tire tracks though? Oh yeah, MOOTS was leashed the whole time.

According to MarketResearch.com, sales of pet products other than food reached $8.5 billion last year. That's more than the $6.2 billion spent on babycare products.

This is not really a accurate comparison, the $8.5 bill is spent on dogs within all phases of their lifespan, not just the first 3-4 years where a family would normally purchase items that would fall into the "babycare" product category. The better comparison would be the total expenditure on children until they are self-sufficient. I am sure that this number would be dramatically greater that the $8.5 bill price tag for animals. I have two cats and two dogs, I spend alot on them, but nothing close to what it costs for the 15 and 17 year old in my house.

What bugs me even more that dogs are all the trail users that are in my way. You may be the slower rider that I'm comming up on from behind. I say " Hello", not to be friendly, but to say; "clear the trail, I'm riding here".
Or, what's worse, last monday as I was riding up Prime Cut and traded shoulder rubs with the a$$hole riding downhill that had just run my girlfriend off the trail in front of me. Hey, you can be a jerk and run my girl off the trail when we are riding uphill on a trail, but I'll knock you off the path if you don't yield when I'm the uphill traffic. Where is the courtesy??

] Or, what's worse, last monday as I was riding up Prime Cut and traded shoulder rubs with the a$$hole riding downhill that had just run my girlfriend off the trail in front of me. Hey, you can be a jerk and run my girl off the trail when we are riding uphill on a trail, but I'll knock you off the path if you don't yield when I'm the uphill traffic. Where is the courtesy??

Wow... I hate this about many riders. I don't get it... 1. you look like a dick running people off the trail (especially women) and 2. you can't rage the trail like you should be able to. I hope you knocked him off the bike.

About dogs... I was flowing Hall really well last night (borderline raging) and I came around a turn towards the bottom to find myself head to head with a brown lab. Almost went over the bars trying to avoid running the little guy over!!
I was pissed a little, but kindly mentioned to the guy that dogs aren't allowed on the trail. He was receptive and actually appreciative of my concern.

Honestly, kill them with kindness. I know its hard, but you can tactfully approach situations like these whereby the person in fault feels like an idiot for not playing by the rules. The short story is that we are always going to have to deal with these situations living in a heavily populated area. Don't get pissed and ruin your ride. Deal with it, enjoy your time spent on the trail, and don't kill the dogs!! (unless they are poodles!)

Kinda OT, but related...back in college we went for a ride up at Hewlett's and almost ran into a dog off leash. No big deal, as we passed the girls the dog were with quite a while ago, so we weren't gonna go back or wait to say anything. Anyways, after our ride, we were loading the bikes and up comes the girls. Turns out their dog was bitten by a rattle snake, and confessed they were tripping on 'shrooms (!). Sweet...no, not really. Because of their "condition" we ended up driving them, their dog (which turns out wasn't even theirs), and their car to the vet and then to their house! Good deed of the year fo' sho!

So maybe that "gaggle" of women near the dog park were all trippin' on shrooms! LOL

Can we work Apex shuttling into this as well?

I love dogs.....especially off leash dogs....especially off leash dogs that that are not tolerant to others who are not just like them....especially off leash dogs that post on their off leash forums ranting about how they just hate downhillers...especially off leash dogs that get so upset with downhillers or just bikers in general that sneek up on them unexpected like and those same dogs say "Hey Man (in dog talk) uphill has the right away, how abouts a little bite in the thigh." Yeah those dogs are hella cool!

PS It'd also be hella cool if we could get a smily face that looks like a dog and it constantly snaps its big jaws..That would be so cool.

What bugs me even more that dogs are all the trail users that are in my way. You may be the slower rider that I'm comming up on from behind. I say " Hello", not to be friendly, but to say; "clear the trail, I'm riding here".
Or, what's worse, last monday as I was riding up Prime Cut and traded shoulder rubs with the a$$hole riding downhill that had just run my girlfriend off the trail in front of me. Hey, you can be a jerk and run my girl off the trail when we are riding uphill on a trail, but I'll knock you off the path if you don't yield when I'm the uphill traffic. Where is the courtesy??

I was shuttling Apex this weekend and an off leash dog ran in front of me. I got stopped in time, pulled out my .45 (which I always ride with in case I see a mountain lion) and shot it. I'm sure the owner's were pissed but I blew by them pretty fast and managed to knock the chick off the trail. Phacking hikers!

A man must have enemies and places he is not welcome. In the end we are not only defined by our friends but those against us.

So it's getting to be spring and there is a new 'dog park' at the S end of the Foothills Trail in Ft Collins.

I'd ridden it many times since it was built and always had problems w/dog owners letting their dogs out of their car w/o a leash to run up to the park. I can't count the times I've slammed on the brakes to avoid a "dog crash" on the short (20') stretch of trail between the parking lot and the dog park because owners don't leash their dogs between the parking lot and the "dog park"

This afternoon took the cake !! Up in the "Open Space" at the S end of the Foothills Trail, I saw 8-12 unleashed dogs w/ no owners in sight running up and down the trail.

It took all I could to do, to not confront the 6 "women" walking "a breast" across the trail and forcing me to yield while their dogs ran free up the trail when I finally encountered them.

Yeah, I hear you. Over the weekend I saw the same thing at Frick Park in Pittsburgh, PA. There are two designated "off leash" dog areas but to get there, many dog owners let their dogs run off leash. I actually saw some woman's stupid dog go after a kid on a bike, kid was screaming, then the lady starts chatting with other dog owners about how she "didn't understand why the kid was screaming and running". Yeah lady, the onus is on the kid, not the person who is supposed to have their dog under control in an area where the dog is supposed to be on a leash. My old man endo'ed when some lady and her unleashed lap dog ran across the trail, good thing his lid took the hit.

I've never had a problem with dogs off leash. Poor little dudes probably spend about 99% of their life in some nasty back yard in the middle of town anyway. I'd love to let my dog run around up at Michaud or Pineridge but a couple years ago I had my dog off leash ONCE at Pineridge and I had a $50 ticket about 30 seconds later. This year I've been seeing dogs off leash everywhere. Did they stop enforcing it? I don't get it.

No doubt... N. Bldr park has become a dog park. Theres always dogs off leash, and a good half of them are not under control at all. Its not even worth taking my dogs for a walk there, I hate having a strange dogs run up to my dogs when I haven't given permission and mine are leashed. Usually I just drop the leash and hope the other dog running up isn't too aggressive... having one dog on-leash and the other off-leash isn't a good scenario, if the other dog is aggressive it doesn't leave the leashed dog with any alternative but fighting. I guess I should call and complain to animal control, I don't know what else to do except not walk my dogs there...

.

Strava: turn off your dork logger when you're not on sanctioned trails.

D-bag.
That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.
If you go somewhere for a mtn bike fest, take it for what it is. A casual gathering of likeminded folks with plenty of beer.
Sessioning Prime Cut over and over again? That was cool in 1999.

D-bag.
That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.
If you go somewhere for a mtn bike fest, take it for what it is. A casual gathering of likeminded folks with plenty of beer.
Sessioning Prime Cut over and over again? That was cool in 1999.

F-ing hilarious. As you say, "sessioning Prime Cut" during the festival... hahaha. I'm going to the FFTF to do some serious riding... laughable. That thread is the perfect example of why I would never go near that town during the fest... too many d!cktards. I've had many a great time at the fest, but honestly it wasn't about serious riding.

Gone are the days we stopped to decide,
Where we should go,
We just ride...